As a parent you owe it to yourself and your children to take care of yourself. Emotionally, spiritually and physically, you are sharing all of these valuable aspects of yourself in being a parent. It’s important you find ways give to yourself what you need.

This can mean time out. By simply putting aside some time each week for yourself, to do the things that you enjoy. This time should be treated with the same importance as your other commitments, for example, you could schedule that time into your diary as you would other appointments, this also assists you to plan and manage your time efficiently. You don’t have to put aside a lot of time, it could simply be time out for a massage, lunch or coffee with a friend. Keep it simple and achievable, that way it becomes regular and doesn’t feel like you are taking too much time out of your day. Instead it will become an essential part of your day as you will be re-scheduling self care back into your days.

It is essential that you have a good support network, both professionally and in your private life. Support can be in the form of someone to call when you need to talk through things. Professionally it could be someone else in the same industry as you that understands your business.

Privately it can be a friend or relative that you can call when you need to just talk about things. Also seeking of guidance and support from a professional therapist is essential if you feel that you are not coping; e.g., counselling, psychologist, alternative therapies can also be beneficial e.g. acupuncture, Reiki and holistic counselling.

Ideally seek out regular on going therapies that will assist to maintain a balance in your life, such as massage, aromatherapy, meditation, acupuncture, etc. Of course, engaging in regular physical exercise and eating a healthy balanced diet is important to our emotional and physical wellbeing.

Essential oils have a therapeutic effect on our psychological and physical systems. The aroma of the oils such as Lavender, have a soothing effect on the emotional state. Try putting a drop or two of essential Lavender oil on a cloth and placing it where your child can smell it when they are in bed, e.g. under their pillow, or beside the bed. Try using Lavender oil in a vaporiser, you can buy one from most supermarkets. Vaporisers come in many shapes and sizes, they have a small bowl on top to place water and essential oil in and a platform for a slow burning t-light candle beneath it. You can add up to 5 – 10 drops of oil in total to the water, using a combination of up to 3 -4 different essential oils. Remember never to leave a burning candle unattended. Use only 100% pure essential oils, as the cheaper brands are often not pure and are mixed with chemicals to create the perfume. When we use this method, we breathe in the aroma of the essential oils, it goes into our bloodstream, which is why it is very important to use only pure essential oils.

Some blends to try in a vapouriser are;

A calming blend to use in the evening ; Lavender, Cedarwood & Lemon.

A calming blend to use during the day; Lavender, Cedarwood, Ylang Ylang & Mandarin.